Catability as a Metric for Evaluating Superposed Coherent States

Superposed coherent states are central to quantum technologies, yet their reliable identification remains a challenge, especially in noisy or resource-constrained settings. We introduce a novel, directly measurable criterion for detecting catlike features in quantum states. The criterion is based on the concept of nonlinear squeezing and bypasses the need for full state tomography of the tested states. The numerical results confirm its robustness under loss and its potential for experimental implementation. The method naturally generalizes to more exotic superpositions, including multiheaded cat states.